You will either agree or be outraged. Lewis Hamilton walked into the paddock this morning to be greeted by the news that Robert Kubica had been slagging him off for dangerous driving. Or, at least, that was the interpretation adopted by a couple of British national newspapers.
Had the journalists in question actually spoken to Kubica? Er, no. Kubica’s quotes had been taken from an interview in a German publication.
Kubica had been talking about Hamilton’s driving at Monza, particularly the moment when he forced Timo Glock onto the grass as the McLaren driver attempted to come through from 15th on the grid.
Right enough, it was what might best be described as a ‘forceful’ piece of driving. But the context of the quote was not made clear, mainly because the British writers did not know.
It could have been an idle comment at the end of an interview about Fernando Alonso going to BMW (as was mooted until Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were re-signed) and led to discussion about Alonso’s relationship with Hamilton.
Or it could have been a rant by the Pole, although on the evidence of interviews done with Robert, I’d say that is not his style.
Naturally, the British writers had gone to Hamilton, not to stir things up (it says here), but to get his response. Hamilton said Kubica was entitled to his opinion but he, Hamilton, would do his talking on the track and that, in his view, he was not over-aggressive.
Reaction in the paddock has been split, as it was when David Croft and I covered morning practice on BBC Radio 5 Live. It may have been 3am in the UK but we received more than 40 text messages, most of them on the subject of Hamilton.
Some felt being aggressive should be in the make-up of any champion. Others said he was arrogant and cocky and needed taking down a peg or two.
Either way, I’m not sure this is the sort of conversation we should be having at such an interesting and crucial stage of the championship.
Hamilton did indeed do his talking on the track today by taking what Ron Dennis considers to be the best pole position of his career. A slight exaggeration, perhaps. But better than the hype generated by journalists looking for a story on Friday when not a lot had happened on the track.
Felipe has cracked under the pressure, he is just not championship material and will never win a championship in his life.
Ferrari would have done well to focus on Kimi from the start of the season and make a car that suits him rather than one which suits Massa’s over-agressive driving style.
Felipe just doesnt have the mental strength of say Raikkonen or for that matter Valentino Rossi. Kimi hasnt scored a single point in the last 4 races and is still just 20 points behind Lewis in the championship, had the car been adapted to suit his driving style better, atleast a couple of those accidents could have been avoided and he would still have had a shot at the championship.
Remember 2003 season when Kimi lost the champions by just 1 point even though he had just 2 race wins in the entire season.
And this has what to do with Quali exactly?
Couldn’t this have been done as a background/atmosphere piece and we have had a proper piece on your thoughts of qualifying?
And yes, I do think Hamilton is overly aggressive. Yes aggression is good, but he does take it too far. You can’t force drivers off the road, thats just not on.
great pole…massa is slowly watching the championship dissappear
he is aggressive but without the aggresive driving there will be on overtaking it will just be 22 cars going around in a circle lap by lap with no order change. the aggressive makes it fun to watch. theres no reason y the other drivers cant turn into agressive overtakers the more there is the more fun it is to watch
great pole indeed but points are scored in the race. let wait till tomorrow and maybe Lewis “I do not care about the red lights”, who is one of the very few drivers who can put his car into the gravel trap going to the pit, would give us some surprise again.
mclaren, there is aggression and then there is driving dangerously. Hamilton crosses that line too much. What he did to Glock and Webber at Monza was not aggressive overtaking, it was plain dangerous driving.
Hamilton’s an aggressive driver, but that’s just his style. And the papers need to search otu their own stories, not nick the German ones. i missed qualifying! What happened?
Kimi lost by 2 points & only won one race in 2003.
The reason there hasn’t been a british world champion since Hill,(and lets face it he lucked into the best car on the grid)is because they weren’t agressive enough, Senna & Schumacher were probably the two most agressive drivers and both became champions and legends, enough said.
Can we not change the name of this blog to the “Sunday way too early in the morning club” if only just for the next week or so.
Hamilton is showing unsportmanlike behavior. Forcing others to grass while overtaking can cause serios accident. Thats why Kubica takes the topic on surface, hes been on serious accident, and he wants nobody to feel same has he had.
And Hamiltons reply; “I dont care”, Real moron head to toes… “i dont care if some1 dies or loses a leg” i have said earlier that Ham’ is too inmature, that just proves it.
Felipe is what suits Ferrari, a very team involved driver. But lets face it, he is remotely not championship material. There’s a world of difference between setting a hot lap in the quali and then performing likewise the next day.
It wouldn’t have hurt Ferrari to focus on the F2008 rather than the California. And especially go the extra length to tune the car to Kimi’s driving style.
Hamilton is the most fair, honest driver on the grid. FULL STOP.
@DaViega: It’s F1… not a daycare place… If they don’t want to risk getting hurt then I suggest that they all just stay home and watch it on the TV.. oh no wait what if the TV explodes?
Just look for the top10 overtaking manouvers in F1 and you’ll notice that every single one of them is a very risky one with a very big chance of someone going off… Just look at the Schumacher vs. Hakkinen @ Spa, 3 cars (one being lapped) at speeds of 200mph just inches from eachother right before a slow chicane…
“Mihir Gadre said… Saturday October 11, 2008 at 11:00 am
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Felipe has cracked under the pressure, he is just not championship material and will never win a championship in his life.
Ferrari would have done well to focus on Kimi from the start of the season and make a car that suits him rather than one which suits Massa’s over-agressive driving style.
Felipe just doesnt have the mental strength of say Raikkonen or for that matter Valentino Rossi. Kimi hasnt scored a single point in the last 4 races and is still just 20 points behind Lewis in the championship, had the car been adapted to suit his driving style better, atleast a couple of those accidents could have been avoided and he would still have had a shot at the championship.
Remember 2003 season when Kimi lost the champions by just 1 point even though he had just 2 race wins in the entire season.”
totally agree but thats Michael Schumacher abusing his power at Ferrari lol constantly “bumming” felipe. lets face it he isn’t good enough to be a champ unlike KR
Barracuda: Felipe is what suits Ferrari, a very team involved driver. But lets face it, he is remotely not championship material. There’s a world of difference between setting a hot lap in the quali and then performing likewise the next day.
totally agree. massa isn’t championship material and because of a few slip ups, ferrari’s better driver (raikkonen) has fallen behind in the championship and it’s cost him.
well said, ben.
someday, lewis hamilton will realize the rest of the world is not here to kiss his arrogant ass. if you choose to play dirty pool, please don’t cry when the favor is returned to you. that goes for waaamilton as well as the press.
I think the move against Glock was just. Timo wasn’t exactly pulling his punches in defending either, even when Hamilton was pretty much past him. Anybody else in Hamilton’s position would have done the same - we see all too much of it when the so-called ‘iceman’ loses his rag in the heat of battle. He likes to shove hamilton wide just as much as hamilton does. And i’m sure I don’t have to cough Schumacher’s name either - his overtaking tactics were the stuff of legend when it came to pushing people wide!
So given the standards set by the elite, i’d say Hamilton didn’t do anything wrong. A harsh move, but nothing to merit such scorn. You don’t see Raikonnen being slagged off in the press for it.
Here’s a thought, we want to see more overtaking and more passing around the track and yet when a driver comes along to do exactly that we whine moan and groan about it… Make up your minds or something already!! Hamilton for the championship even if he doesnt get 1st place.. =)
I we have seen today, Lewis is maybe not aggressive, but no doubt not mature enough for a mega champion. Today he buried his race in .. first corner, and who overtook him? Yes, Kubica… starting from 6th place and he finished 2nd.
Lewis starting from pole position could not withstand genius driving from Pole
So Hamilton got a penalty for a dangerous move? Oh, the irony…
the race was kind of boring, those on the inside line onto turn 1 after the start climed many places. Kubica ends up 2nd, but his mouth means his chaces for driving for maclaren in the future have beened wipped away
Some immature driving today from both Hamilton and Massa. Alonso showed he’s still the most complete driver out there and Kubica showed his class by skillfully keeping Kimi at bay.
Hamilton has shown he still has alot to learn, maybe third time lucky for the championship.
I don’t really understand the drive through for Hamilton, he made a mistake. Kimi had outbraked himself too otherwise he’d have been able to duck inside and Hamilton ended up behind them and with severly flatspotted tyres anyway. That’s punishment enough IMHO. But I know there are plenty of Hamilton haters out there will say otherwise.
I Hope Hamilton could win this champs.
Agree totally with last comment . A risky move but surely thats what punters want to see . Dropping back to 6th was punishment enough . But Massas move was totally unacceptable and his drive through should have been a Stop Go as he clearly benefited . But yet again the Stewards wear different specs to normal people . Massa getting back a furher point later after taking out another car does make you wonder if they watch the race or are still “out to lunch ” !!
Both Hamilton and Massa looked very ragged,overly aggressive and not impressive at all-the pressure is really starting to show(btw well done to a brilliant Alonso showing them how it’s done!).I think Hamilton will win the championship but I don’t think he’s anything special and his attitude sucks(same goes for Massa minus the attitude bit)but i’d absolutely love it if Robert could do a ‘Kimi’ and steal the championship from under their noses-nearly impossible in his inferior car,I know,but here’s hopeing!!!BTW Surely Bourdais is the unluckiest rookie in F1 and I really don’t understand how he was penalised for his scuffle with Massa…oh well,roll on next weekend!!
As I watched the start I thought Hamilton wouldget punished but the more I watched replays it made less sense. It appears it more Kovelinien following Hamilton that shoves Kimi off the road, Hamiltons already clear off into the run off. And besides it’s the first corner, the one part of F1 still free of the nanny-state coming into the sport where all the field are trying to overtake and several cars were forced wide, so shouldn’t a large part of the field also been given drive thrus?
Is it because Lewis Hamilton is Black or have the Stewards got a big bet on Ferrari this year,or maybe Ferrari pay for better blow jobs, you just know every decision that involves Hamilton will be negative and they will go easy on Ferrari.
Bourdais issue was a clever way for them to give Massa another point.
hahahaha!! oh so true, nick. well said.
come on .. this is what makes F1 racing. The excitement. The risk. What’s the point of watching cars go round and round of there wasn’t the chance that one of them might be pushed off by a better driver? Leave Lewis alone.
i don’t think any of the incidents deserved punishment. this is racing and sh*t happens, so the stewards keep their noses out before they ruin the sport.
congrats to alonso and kubica well deserved result for both them.
Hamilton certainly did do his talking on the track and what he said was loud and clear ‘I can’t take pressure, I can’t drive conservatively, I have not learned from last year and I am going to bollocks it up again’ . He is arrogant and cocky and for what? He has not proved himself as anything other than the most over rated driver in formula 1.